Chapter 213
Chapter 213
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 213
Chapter Title: For Elise
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The sorrow of losing family.
I couldn't possibly understand that weight.
If I had to compare it to anything, maybe it was that agonizing time right after I got dumped into this world, scraping by in misery. Leaning against the wall, I waited with Elise for Lina's sobs to finally stop.
"...A tragic affair. But once they've dipped their toes into heresy, it's as good as a predetermined doom. That's why we must root out these wicked beings. They are the villains who bring ruin and sorrow upon humanity."
Unlike me, grieving over the tragedy, Elise was utterly composed.
A steadfast faith, unshakeable belief. To her, this wasn't some slum girl's misfortune—it was simply the execution of rightful justice.
I felt much the same.
But that didn't stop the sorrow from hitting me anyway.
"...I see."
"Indeed. They prey on the frailties of the human heart, dragging them into true perdition. A classic tactic, and all the more evil for it. Saint, time is of the essence. We must purge every last heretic here to break this chain of tragedies."
"...Right."
Damn heretics.
Confiscating their loot wasn't nearly enough anymore. For the sake of love and justice, we had to wipe them all out. My teeth ground together in rage, hatred blazing hot like fire.
"Yeah."
Heretics who make children cry?
They all deserved to die.
We couldn't forgive those who tear at our hearts.
"We have to... break this chain of tragedies."
Children should be smiling, not shedding tears.
My fists trembled.
Sure, Lina had stolen my money—not enough with that, she'd even called thugs to try and kill me. But that grudge was long settled, washed away by the unimaginable fortune of 10 silvers in compensation.
A bit of lingering bitterness, maybe, but Lina was just a kid. As the adult, I'd forgiven her crimes in exchange for that payout. 10 silvers were more than worth it.
So our relationship was just that of adult and child.
Plus-minus zero.
That's why I could empathize with her grief.
No matter how much of a shitheap this world was, kids living in it didn't have to suffer like trash. Those heretics who'd brought tears to Lina... I couldn't forgive them. Not one bit.
Super-weed Kim Katt
doesn't stand by and watch such scum.
I'm the protector of children.
"Hic... Hic... Sniff!"
How much time passed?
Lina emerged from the room, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, still sniffling. The grief pouring from her tiny frame felt like it filled the whole world.
I asked if she'd gathered her grandma's belongings. She said there was nothing left to take. Now, even memories of her grandma were impossible. Matching eyes with Lina, who looked endlessly small and kept bursting into fresh tears, I spoke.
"...The love your grandma showed you—that's her legacy."
Clumsy comfort, sure, but to Lina right now, it had to mean everything.
"..."
"The last thing I heard was how much she loved you. So... live strong. Charge ahead like a rhino's horn, all on your own. No matter how shitty or fucked the world gets. We have to survive it, live our lives to the end."
Lina bit her lip hard, wiping away the endless tears. Had some of my feelings gotten through? I added a few more words to console her.
"This world has purgatory."
The living world and the afterlife.
And purgatory.
"When people die after living their lives, they go to the afterlife."
Elise stared at me blankly, but this much should be fine. For a girl drowning in sorrow, I could share a personal belief or two.
"But the hearts of those left behind in the living world, sending off the dead... yeah. That's purgatory. Tormenting, horrific grief that makes you wish you were dead too."
Purgatory is where the grief-stricken linger. You can't escape it. You can't overcome the sorrow. So you live on, unable to die.
That's purgatory.
"Living in that kind of purgatory... must be truly hellish. But."
I grabbed Lina's shoulders.
"—Live."
You have to live.
Separate the dead from the living.
The dead are dead, the living are alive. The living must never be dragged down by the dead.
"Humans."
Lina looked into my eyes.
"can't live in purgatory."
"Hic...!"
Her tear-streaked face, twisted in agony.
Seeing a child's face like that—it breaks your heart. On hers, I saw the kids from the Third World dying of starvation and beast-borne plagues.
"That's why... you keep living anyway."
The kids UNICEF sponsorships couldn't save.
Kids dying from harsh environments and brutal child labor.
There was nothing I could do.
"You probably can't overcome the grief. You'll never forget the face of someone you miss. That's natural. But if you despair over it... and never stand up again."
But at least for Lina right here in front of me.
I could pass on my heart and words.
"Is that what the one who went ahead first would want?"
"...Hic! Sniff!"
Lina burst into tears again and hugged me tight.
Cry it out.
Cry to soothe the sorrow,
and send the soul of the dead to peace.
Right now, she's my little sister. It's okay. You can overcome this. Even I survived life in this world. If you're my little sister, you'll pull through no problem.
Ah, Requiem.
Tears that soothe the dead—
Lina, soaking my shoulder, finally calmed and pulled away.
I spoke to her.
"Revenge."
"Revenge...?"
"Yeah. You have to get revenge on those filthy heretics who turned your grandma into that."
Revenge would fuel her life.
If it were me, I wouldn't forgive the bastards who turned my grandma into a ghoul. I'd chase them to the ends of hell and slaughter them all. If grief's too hard to beat, replace it with another emotion.
Kids are fragile.
Losing a parent or grandparent like that? High chance of breaking.
So plant the flame of vengeance in her heart to steel her resolve.
"Steel your heart. We're heading deeper now."
Deeper in.
To the abyss-like depths underground, where heretics breathe evil and commit their abominations. That's where we're going.
All to break the chain of sorrow.
All to punish Lina's enemies, the heretics.
"So no more kids have to go through this grief, we need to uproot these wicked bastards. Follow me. Witness their deaths. Your grandma would surely be pleased."
My strong tone changed the look in Lina's eyes.
She wiped her tears again and nodded firmly.
"...Got it."
"Elise, let's go. I can't hold back this rage anymore. Right now... we have to show them even the gods hate them!"
I poured my fury into those words for Elise.
"This land where humans live must be cleansed of impurity and evil. Come, deeper in. Let's start the holy war offered to the gods. Show them divine wrath...! The wrath of justice!"
"Raaargh!!!" My roar got Elise roaring too. Our battle spirits resonated, overflowing with universal exaltation.
"Of course, absolutely! Ah, Saint! How can you possess such a pious heart...! With you by my side, no trial feels insurmountable! Yes! To the depths below!"
"—Divine."
I extended my arm.
"—Friend."
Elise extended hers, forming a cross.
The Divine Cross that eradicates evil.
Today, I am the Holy Avenger Kim Katt.
"We're off...!"
With unwavering faith, we'll right the justice of this land.
I stepped forward boldly, sword raised high.
"This holy war I dedicate to the God of Order."
"Ahh, long live the Young Master, long live Hwanung. In the names of King David and Buddha, I shall purify the horde of heretics hiding in the shadows."
"God's iron fist upon the heretics."
"The truth that justice lives."
—Grrraaaah...!
—Squiiiish!!!
—Groooar...!
"The mortal world shall be protected under the name of the Wheel-Turning Sage King."
"Behold the grace bestowed by the gods, you wicked ones."
From ahead, a twisted horde of ghouls crawled toward us.
Elise and I stepped in front of Lina. Those horrific undead scaling walls and ceilings were surely monsters cursed by the gods.
We would never yield to such beings.
—Crackle.
As the prayer finished, brilliant light flooded the area, holy radiance surging from my blade. The light drove back the purple darkness, enveloping the basement in sacred glow.
Blades and maces burning with divinity.
With weapons forged by human hands, we shall judge the wicked.
—Squiiiiek!!!
—Gyaaaahhh!!
"Revenge."
"Punishment."
The ghouls lunged.
Smaller and way slower than that ghoul grandma from before. No matter how monstrous they were, rushing in bare-handed made them primitive monsters.
With my 'sword,' my range was overwhelmingly superior.
I fixed on the incoming one, calmly thrusting my blade. My sword outreached its arms. No matter what it tried, I seized first strike.
"Nine-Headed Dragon Flash."
Ghouls are decently tough monsters. But with my enhanced strength and holy enchant, they were just bugs.
—Stab!
I drove the blade between its collarbones, twisted, and yanked—ripping half its neck off. —Squeak! Elise swung her mace, snapping its neck clean. I pulled my sword free and struck the next.
"Come at me, undead."
With Elise, nothing scared me.
—Squeeeak!!
Ghouls popped up from nowhere, endless waves. United with Elise, we butchered every last one charging in. Our blazing fury and choking hatred for revenge—undead trash couldn't handle it.
Peerless swordsmanship honed to perfection, enhanced body.
And Elise's buffs.
Combined, I was the Heavenly Demon. Ten ghouls fell, and we trampled their corpses onward. Swelling urges to plunder rattled my brain. Kill them all, seize everything they've built.
Not a trace of heresy will remain.
After slaughtering the eleventh, no more came. The raging impulse excited us further.
"Saint. Let's press on."
"The path we tread becomes our pilgrimage."
Their lair stretched long.
At first, it seemed like a carefully crafted basement, but it devolved into dirt tunnels. Expansion started here? Felt like an abandoned mine... And at the tunnel's end.
The underground truth revealed itself.
"Oh, shit."
"This is..."
—Down below.
In the vast expanse below, heretics and ghouls were digging some tunnel. Robed priests oversaw the soulless ghouls like overseers, who dug on command.
The purple light illuminating the depths poured intensely from somewhere here.
We lay prone, observing.
"Those, those commie bastards! Digging tunnels like they own the place...!"
Patriot me raged at 'tunnel,' guts twisting in agony. Commie scum! How dare they dig tunnels!
Kill them all!
But their numbers looked hefty.
"...Saint?"
"Hm? What?"
"Look over there."
Elise pointed with her mace. Found something? Following it—
—An altar.
—A trophy.
Atop the evil altar sat a pitch-black trophy like an urn. Cup-shaped. Purple light emanated from it.
"Fucking... insanely..."
Expensive-looking.